We were lucky enough to get to chat to one of the most successful fencers in the world, Italian Marco Fichera, and we got to quiz him on his nutrition. Marco took up fencing aged 10 in Sicily and has never looked back; in 2011 he became the Junior World Champion, followed this up with some World Cup victories in 2013 & 2014, and scored a silver at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

We asked the questions in English, and Marco answered them in Italian for all of our Italian readers out there!

Do you have to Carbo-load or similar ahead of a competition as the matches can last so long? “Non uso tanto carbo-load perche il mio sport non è molto aerobico e quindi necessita più una ricarica proteica per i muscoli che lavorano in stile anaerobico in presenza di acido lattico più che aerobico”.